IRU welcomes the Commission’s recognition of road transport as one of the key sectors in its Electrification Action Plan, which is an important step towards creating the conditions needed for operators to invest in electric vehicles.
The European Commission's new Action Plan aims to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to electricity across transport, industry and buildings, supporting competitiveness, energy security and lower energy prices. For commercial road transport, it sets out dedicated measures for heavy-duty charging infrastructure, investment support and incentives.
IRU particularly welcomes the Commission's recognition that scaling up electric heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) requires greater certainty for operators and investors. This reflects the operational and investment challenges facing transport companies, including access to charging infrastructure and the high upfront costs of zero-emission vehicles.
The Action Plan explicitly recognises infrastructure gaps and the need for additional financial support for recharging infrastructure, including the importance of charging infrastructure at operators' own premises.
Among its actions to accelerate the roll-out of charging infrastructure for electric HDVs, the Commission will review the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) by the end of 2026, while collecting data to assess depot charging needs and updating common specifications for publicly accessible and private recharging points to ensure interoperability.
The Commission is also proposing targeted reforms to the EU electricity market, aiming to lower electricity costs through more efficient network charges, smarter use of existing grid infrastructure, and a more favourable tax treatment of electricity, in line with the existing EU energy taxation framework.
IRU welcomes the proposed measures to improve access to the electricity grid by enabling Member States to prioritise grid connections for strategic users, including transport market participants, where network capacity is constrained.
Combined with provisions encouraging the prioritisation of users that contribute to grid flexibility, on-site storage and clean energy generation, these measures could help reduce electricity-related costs for operators and strengthen the business case for investing in zero-emission HDVs.
IRU EU Advocacy Director Raluca Marian said, “We welcome the European Commission’s renewed recognition of road transport as a key sector in one of its major initiatives.
“The Electrification Action Plan and the proposal on the EU electricity market send a positive signal for commercial road transport. Accelerating the roll-out of adequate charging infrastructure, strengthening investment support and reducing electricity costs are essential to enabling the transition. With ambitious CO₂ targets already in place, operators, particularly SMEs, need the right enabling conditions and a stable market to invest.
“The AFIR review will play an important role in this effort. Introducing a facilitated framework for private and semi-private charging points located at depots and logistics facilities would be a key step to incentivise operators' efforts and facilitate Member States’ compliance towards the targets.”
The plan supports a more coordinated roll-out of heavy-duty charging infrastructure across the EU. In parallel with the AFIR revision, the Commission aims to expand the Clean Transport Corridors initiative to additional TEN-T corridors and facilitate financial support to reduce investment risks for HDV charging stations.
IRU also welcomes the Commission's intentions to work with Member States and industry to identify other relevant enabling conditions for deploying zero-emission HDVs, including incentives. The Action Plan announced a Commission recommendation on fiscal and non-fiscal demand-side incentives for zero-emission vehicles by the end of 2026, alongside a review of the Clean Vehicles Directive by the end of 2027 to assess its targets and possible further strengthening of public procurement requirements for zero-emission vehicles.
"These initiatives are important to provide Member States with clear guidance on how to effectively support the uptake of zero-emission vehicles," said Raluca Marian. "Drawing on best practices across Europe, the Commission should help establish well-designed national support schemes that enable operators to invest with confidence."
As the Commission considers an indicative EU-wide electrification target of 46% for 2040, IRU stresses that road transport already has ambitious decarbonisation targets in place. The focus should now be on creating the financial and operational incentives needed at EU and national levels to enable operators to deliver on them.